MSNBC president defends network, hits Fox News and CNN

1/15/14 1:51 PM EST

MSNBC president Phil Griffin defended his network's handling of recent controversies in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday -- and took a jab at his competitors at CNN and Fox News.

"We handled them," Griffin said. "We were transparent. That is our philosophy: Be factual, and step up when you make a mistake. And I don't see that among our competition, whether it's getting something wrong on a major story or when there are clear inaccuracies and they're not corrected."

Over the course of the last few months, MSNBC has experienced at least three high profile controversies among their hosts. Alec Baldwin's short-lived late night show ended after he made a gay slur at a photographer on the streets of New York, Martin Bashir resigned after his shocking comments about Sarah Palin, and Melissa Harris-Perry got into hot water over a joke segment that featured Mitt Romney's adopted black grandson.

"These were judgment calls made by some of our people," Griffin said. "We quickly took responsibility for them and took action. They were unfortunate, but I'm not going to allow these specific moments of lack of judgment to define us."

"We don't rely on one person to look at all scripts -- there are too many scripts," Griffin said. "Of course I've talked to everybody in the building about it -- and we move on. Some of these mistakes are being played out far more inside the media world. I don't think it hurt us in any way."

Griffin also said that his remark that MSNBC is "not the place" for breaking news -- made during a New York Times interview last June -- was misconstrued in a recent Fox News advertisement, which used it to suggest MSNBC was no longer focused on news coverage.

"I did not say that," he said. "It was in reference to CNN, that their brand is known for breaking news. And my reference was not that we don't do [breaking news], but we're not known for it in the way that CNN is. I stand by our coverage of any major news story."